


Rotations

by multi_fan_writing



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Also light betting and debates on whos top and bottom, Awkward Flirting, Canon Compliant, Domestic Fluff, First Kiss, Getting Together, I call this: they cook and Kaito realizes hes gay, Kokichi is a child, Kokichi the matchmaker, M/M, Making Out, Misunderstandings, Momota Kaito Being Dumb, and I mean that as an insult not a statement, ft. Kaito being way too oblivious., intentional or not its up to you
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-17
Updated: 2020-12-17
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:28:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,908
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28117716
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/multi_fan_writing/pseuds/multi_fan_writing
Summary: After the late Kirumi Tojo's death everyone comes to the sudden realization that they have no one else to cook or take care of them, having relied on the maid so much to the point they aren't sure how to rely on themselves.Luckily, Kokichi has a solution, one that sets up both Shuichi and Kaito on cooking duty for the day.
Relationships: Momota Kaito/Saihara Shuichi
Comments: 6
Kudos: 112





	Rotations

Kirumi Tojo's death had taken quite the toll on everyone left in Hopes Peak's Academy for Gifted Juveniles. Kaito had noticed, in between distractions of Kokichi turning everyone against his newest sidekick and the remembrance of meteors raining down outside, and it was hard not to notice. Even if he was considered a typical oblivious student, he could feel the thick tension in the air, the deep boiling pit of distrust swirling around everyone in the dining hall.

All except for him. Shuichi Saihara. It was almost jolting how trusting he seemed to be, despite not only being the Ultimate Detective but someone who had lost so many so early into whatever "game" they were trapped in. Even towards Kokichi, his suspicion seemed nonexistent, or at least carefully hidden and tucked away. But despite his trusting nature, it was clear Kirumi's death still had an effect on him, and at least in that regard he was no exception to the rest. 

He was sitting there, quietly, just like he had after the first trial, and before Kaito decided he had enough of pitying the guy and took it upon himself to set things right after attempting to knock sense into him. But unlike with the first trial, he seemed blank, unthinking. After Kaede's death, Shuichi's stare seemed to go on for miles, gears turning in his head as he thought, processed, and grew in what seemed like seconds. Now he seemed empty. 

Kaito frowned as he looked around the table at everyone else, much in the same state. They sat there, patient, as if waiting for _her_ to show up again and apologize for the long wait. As if she would roll a cart in full of treats like she always did and everyone could forget the horrible trial of yesterday by digging into her wonderful meals and sweet drinks.

Kirumi was dead, so was Ryoma though his death seemed so much fainter. Rantaro and Kaede felt like mere memories, not friends who had died less than a week ago.

No one seemed to know what to do.

"This is so _boring_!" Kokichi groaned and kicked his feet childishly before flopping his upper body across the rickety table. It creaked loudly, as did a few people's chairs as they seemed to be shaken from the zombie-like state that had overtaken them all mere moments ago. "And I'm sooo hungry! Can't at least one of you idiots cook?" 

Kaito had to stop himself from snarling as he scoffed, somewhat relieved that someone was acting normally, even if it was Kokichi and even if he was being disgustingly selfish as usual. "You complain so much but you're not doing anything about it, can't _you_ cook, Kokichi?"

Kokichi suddenly flipped like a switch, yanking himself up off of the table and sliding back into his chair. It tilted, leaning far back to the point Kaito hoped the boy would fall, but disappointment striking deep in his chest as he watched the front two legs of the chair land back down on the tiled floor with a loud clack. Kokichi grinned, the wide smile stretching so far it looked like it hurt. Kaito wrinkled his nose. 

"Well of course not! Do I look like someone who can cook? I just stole any food I wanted to eat or ordered my lackeys to do it! I _am_ the Ultimate Supreme Leader after all!" The shorter boy cooed haughtily. Before he could get much farther another scoff was signaled at the end of the table.

"Stupid, degenerate males, bossing people around because you think you're the ones in charge!' Tenko grumbled, heart clearly not into the words she huffed. "What do you suggest we do then? Are you going to make all of the women cook because you think it's our jobs to take care of you?" 

"I can't cook for shit!" Miu barked, rubbing at her eyes which were ringed with some of the darkest circles Kaito had ever seen, including his own after he stayed up all night doing pushups and pullups to prepare for his first day as an astronaut trainee. "I'm too busy and beautiful to be doing that kind of dumb shit anyway! I'm a genius in my prime, I have shit to do besides cook for some whiny brats!"

"I've never tried cooking before, so I don't know if it'd be an adequate attempt on my part either," K1-B0 chimed in before Kokichi let out a high pitched yelp that Kaito assumed was supposed to be laughter. 

"Of course you can't cook, silly! You're a robot! If you tried to cook you'd probably kill us because you can't taste the food!" Kaito felt his irritation spike as Kokichi continued to giggle as squirm about, but before he could so much as get a word in edgewise another voice chimed in.

"Then what do you suggest we do, Kokichi?" 

All heads turned, including Kaito's; his chest fluttering slightly as he finally spotted Shuichi sitting across the table. The vacancy in his eyes was once again missing, a relief, and was replaced by the normal steely look of determination he held. The same look he had when persuing the truth in the courtrooms. It made Kaito's lips twitch upwards into a smile, prideful that his sidekick was taking charge.

"Surely, considering you're the one who brought it up, you must have a plan, correct? Otherwise, I doubt you would drag out the topic this long." Shuichi said, reaching out and resting his folded hands on the table before him as a few murmurs of agreement broke out.

Kaito couldn't stop himself as he stood, hands on his hips. "Yeah! If you had nothing to say other than that you would've left by now and dragged Gonta or someone along with you to go do whatever weird shit you get up to!" He affirmed, and more murmurs broke out around the table. Shuichi shot Kaito a grateful look, a gentle smile easing onto his face that made the taller male's stomach lurch.

Man, he was hungrier than he thought.

"They do have a point," Korekiyo hummed, lightly tugging on the zipper at the corner of his mask. "So, I suppose its only right we hear Kokichi out, since its so important."

Kokichi's giggling fit started once more, and Kaito groaned under his breath, annoyance spiking.

"So clever of you, Shu-shu!" Kokichi cooed, and the urge to reach over poor Tsumugi's head to choke the boy only grew stronger in Kaito, especially as Shuichi's perfect smile fell back into a puzzled frown. "Well, since you're all _so_ interested I suppose I can tell you just this once!"

Kokichi hopped up from his seat before spinning around to stand on top of it. Even with the extra boost, he was still rather short, and now was the perfect height for Kaito to reach over and knock down with a shove of his shoulder. The thought was tempting as the boy cackled. 

"Kirumi Tojo is dead!" A cold wave swept the room, Himiko hiccuping in the corner and Angie rubbing her back comfortingly as Gonta cowered in his chair. Kaito growled warningly, about to throw caution to the wind and actually shove the other before Kokichi wagged his finger almost scoldingly. "Now now, you know it's true! In fact, I think we relied on her too much as it is! Isn't that why she died in the first place? Too many people relying on her!"

Kokichi spun on his heels to face the table once more, humming almost proudly as his chair creaked and he stepped from his seat onto the table that shuddered under the new weight. 

"Hey! Get off of there! The poor thing might collapse!" Tsumugi yipped, waving her hands about frantically. Kokichi grinned, purposefully wiggling to shake the table more and have it groan even louder. "Kokichi!" The blue-haired girl cried.

"Please, just get on with it, Kokichi, I don't think I can take much more squealing from the table or Tsumugi," K1-B0 said, brows furrowed as he crossed his arms. Kokichi groaned in stead, finally standing still as the table shuddered to a stop once more.

"God, you all are no fun! Boring, boring, boring!" He whined, his fake pout vanishing almost instantly as Shuichi cleared his throat. "Oops, okay, I'll make it quick then! Didn't know you were so impatient, Mr.Detective!"

Kokichi rocked on his heels, the table squeaking the slightest bit and making Miu growl now, but he ignored her to spin on his heels. Kaito blinked, surprised as Kokichi now faced him and the boy let out a little laugh. "I propose we have a cooking rotation, so every day we have someone prepare breakfast, lunch, and dinner for everyone! And since it's a rotation, we will have someone else every day be the one in charge of meals!" 

Silence. 

"You... propose we each do the cooking for the day we are assigned to?" Korekiyo phrased carefully, raising a slow eyebrow as Kokichi tilted his head. "Well. Such a normal suggestion... I'm certaintly surprised it came from someone like you." Tsumugi, K1-B0, and Tenko all found themselves nodding in agreement, and Kaito was honestly surprised himself. He half expected someone to be pinned with all cooking duties for the rest of the game, like K1-B0. Because despite Kokichi picking on him a lot, he also seemed to force him to do a lot of things too.

"Why would it be surprising?" Kokichi said with a snicker, hands on his hips as he walked across the table to stand before Korekiyo, whose nose wrinkled as the boy towered over him. "Me and my gang did it all the time! I always made them dino-nuggies you know!"

"But..." Himiko sniffled, glaring at the tiny boy who tilted his head towards her. "Earlier you said you never cooked and that you made your lackeys do all the work." 

Kokichi snorted. "You really believed that? How dumb are you? It was a lie of course!" 

"A lie over something as stupid as that? How boring," Himiko mumbled, slumping as she buried her face into her arms. Kokichi paid her no mind, instead rolling his eyes as he pranced across the table once more, looping around and around in circles as he started to blabber on again. 

It was giving Kaito a headache.

"Well, I assumed this would happen sooner or later! Either Kirumi would die or be a murderer or she'd get too overwhelmed with all of the pressure we put on her poor little shoulders! It's only natural we have a backup plan!" Kokichi chirped, hands sliding behind his back as he stopped in the middle of the table and jumped, spinning around to face Shuichi, who looked exhausted from the mention of Kokichi planning for this circumstance. "Plus, with a rotation, we won't have to worry about appointing someone new if they die! We can just remove them from the rotation and the person after them can cook instead!" 

"Hold on!" Tenko yelped. "You're acting as if we've already agreed to this crazy idea of yours, what if we don't want to do this rotation!" At her words, Kokichi groaned again. 

"Geez, you're so picky! Picky, picky, picky!" He wiggled the table again, causing a few more jumps and yelps (mostly from poor Tsumugi). "Well, if anyone has any other ideas I'd be happy to hear them! Or we can just vote right now to see who thinks we should go with a rotation!"

Silence filled the room once more, and Kokichi's grin somehow widened. "All right!" He cheered, hands flinging up into the air. "All in favor of beginning a cooking rotation, say Kirumi! Or just raise your hands!" 

It was dead silent aside from the creaks of chairs, everyone's mouths firmly shut as slowly, one by one, most of everyone raised their hands. Shuichi and Kaito were the only two left who hadn't moved a muscle. 

"One... two... three four five... six... seven and eight! That makes a majority! Even excluding me and poor Maki, of course!" Kokichi said with a little hop that made the table wobble dangerously and Tsumugi clapped a hand over her mouth to keep from shrieking again. "I'll decide the order then!"

"How come you get to decide the order?" Himiko said with another sharp glare, and K1-B0 huffed in agreement.

Kokichi ignored this, much to Tenko's anger as she hissed about "degenerate men ignoring women in favor of feeling superior". "Hm... I think as punishment... Shuichi and Kaito get to go first!"

"What?" Shuichi gaped and Kaito felt himself stiffen as he frantically looked between the detective and criminal, suddenly feeling quite nervous. "Us? But I thought it was only one person per day?"

Kokichi snickered again. "Well, sure! But do you really think I'd let you both get away with just defying me like that? Tsk, tsk! Now you both have to work together and cook together! Plus," Kokichi leaned back, far enough he could tilt his head and stare at Kaito with gleaming, mischievous eyes. "I don't think Kaito can cook much anyway! He's only good at being dumb and trusting _way_ too many people!"

"Why you little-" Kaito snarled, only stopped from leaping across the table to grab the annoying pest that was Kokichi Ouma by Shuichi standing abruptly.

"Fine. Kaito and I will cook together, whats the rest of your order then?" 

Kaito was the one gaping now, staring at the determined glare in Shuichi's eyes as he stared at a frozen Kokichi. Kokichi slowly stood up straight, smile tense as he stared back for a few seconds before letting out a loud, fake laugh. "Alright then! Guess my little Shu-Shu was more dominant than I thought!" 

The boy spun around, facing Kaito fully with a slimmer grin and hands on his hips. "Hey, astro-boy! You okay with being Shuichi's partner? He _is_ your little sidekick after all!"

Kaito, finally broken from the sudden wave of hesitation that overtook him, forced a grin as he slammed his hands down on the table. "Of course! I'm happy to do anything with Shuichi!"

Kokichi hummed, now clearly disinterested. "Whatever, after Shuichi and Kaito is Angie, then Tenko, Korekiyo, Miu if she can handle it, Gonta, Me of course, Tsumugi, Himiko, and then K1-B0! We can't trust Maki, of course, so she's a no-go! She might poison us worse than K1-B0, and she'd do it on purpose!"

"Hey! That's-" K1-B0 shouted, standing up abruptly but was cut off by the screech of the table as Kokichi jumped up and down a few times.

"Can't hear you, lil' robot! Might want to speak louder!" Kokichi cackled, Tsumugi wailing as the table shuddered more. 

"Get down from there, please!" She screamed, other voices chiming in around her as more people shouted and voiced their dissatisfaction with either the rotation, Kokichi's remarks, or just how loud Tsumugi and the table were in tandem as Kokichi continued to hop about. Kaito wasn't all too bothered by the noise, though, much more distracted by the sudden blush over taking Shuichi's face the longer the astronaut continued to stare at him.

"We'll begin the rotation at lunchtime, Shu-Shu and Kaito have until then to make something for us to eat!"

* * *

Kaito looked around the kitchen, scratching his head all the while. There were pots, pans, cooking utensils strewn about the room and tucked in what Kaito assumed to be odd spaces. Shuichi, on the other hand, seemed to take no issue with the way things were ordered, instead humming as he looked around.

"Well, a safe bet would be to make bento," Shuichi said calmly, the door clicking shut behind him as he squeezed past Kaito and walked to the kitchen island sitting directly in the center of the kitchen. "Kirumi always made those for us, and school students without Ultimate Maid's can make them on their own, so it shouldn't be too hard for us to accomplish, right?"

Kaito swallowed, staring at the detective who seemed to be deep in thought. Cautiously, with clammy hands and a stuttering heart, Kaito followed after the smaller boy until he was standing directly beside him. He clapped a hand on Shuichi's shoulder, jolting him from whatever thoughts he was wrapped up in, and shot him the warmest smile he could muster. 

"You can cook, then, Shuichi? I wouldn't expect it without how skinny you are! It's almost like you hardly eat even when you can. You're always running around, y'know?" Kaito said breezily, relishing in the smile curling the younger boy's lips even as the astronaut was nudged in the side by Shuichi's boney elbow.

"I'm not the best, but I can cook rice you know. The real tricky bit will be figuring out what we can make for dinner, later." Shuichi said, a chuckle escaping him and causing Kaito's chest to lurch excitedly. Had it been that long since he heard Shuichi laugh that it made him this jittery? He should try to make him laugh more often if that was the case.

"Well, if my sidekick can cook then that means I can cook too! No matter what Kokichi says!" The taller male said, slinging an arm around Shuichi and tugging him close. Almost instantly, as if allergic, Shuichi's cheeks bloomed a bright, rosy pink. It was enthralling, and Kaito couldn't take his eyes away as the boy spluttered. 

"Right! Well, in that case, you can start on the rice and I'll uhm, I'll grab some vegetables to start cutting up!" Shuichi said, wiggling enough to duck out of Kaito's loose grasp and scurry over to the fridge. 

Kaito stood stock still for a moment, watching the boy peek inside the fridge and scrounge around before the words finally registered and he groaned. "Oh! C'mon Shuichi, you're gonna make me search around for the rice when finding the veggies is so easy? Rude!" He called. 

Shuichi paused, as if considering the words before a sudden snort escaped him as he turned slightly, shooting Kaito the most beautiful smile. It was delicate, his eyes were soft, and his cheeks were still a beautiful, soft, rose color as he shook his head. 

"Well, I never said I wasn't cunning sometimes. I hate having to lift up those bags of rice, so I'd rather stick to something nice and easy!" He said jokingly, and Kaito feigned a gasp of offense. 

"So you're using me for my muscles? Shuichi! I expected better of you after all of our training!" He laughed, unable to keep up the facade for long and only barely catching as Shuichi's eyes darted to his arms as he spoke.

"A-ah, well, I never claimed to meet expectations," He said with a nervous shrug of his shoulders. Kaito's mouth softened unintentionally as he shook his head. 

"Don't worry, you usually exceed them anyway." He brushed off the typical self-depreciation from the detective with ease, turning without waiting for Shuichi's protests and beginning his search for the rice bags. 

Kaito ducked around different cabinets and corners of the kitchen, grumbling in frustration as he searched to no avail before finally checking the pantry in the corner. He sighed with relief as he spotted the rice, shuffling inside to heft one of the bags off of the shelves and grunting as the weight sagged into his arms. He trudged out of the pantry, kicking the door shut behind him before dropping off the bag onto the middle island. 

His eyes darted back towards Shuichi, surprise clear on his face as he noticed the boy stripping off his jacket, something he rarely saw unless they were training together. Shuichi draped the jacket across a lone counter in the corner, turning slightly as he began to tug and roll up the sleeves of his button-up, shirt already partially unbuttoned to show his undershirt. As Shuichi's forearms were revealed, Kaito realized he had been staring for a good minute and choked on his own spit. Quickly he turned away to examine all of the hanging pots and pans, Shuichi's nimble fingers still lingering in his mind as his eyebrows furrowed and he frowned.

What size pan do you even use to cook rice? How much rice would they use per person? Did they even have bento boxes to measure the size of how much food they could possibly make for each person? 

"Kaito?" Shuichi's concerned voice cut through Kaito's thoughts and the astronaut turned around to glance at the detective. The smaller male tugged at the collar of his t-shirt, hesitating for the briefest of moments before letting out a sigh. "If I can ask, do... you know how to cook rice?"

Kaito paused, a slight, wobbly grin growing on his face. 

"... Yes?"

Silence grew between the two of them before Shuichi ducked his head. For a moment, Kaito was afraid Shuichi was questioning their friendship but before he knew it he heard a snort.

The snort turned into shaking shoulders, a hand clasping over a mouth, and then sudden, unwavering laughter as Shuichi tossed his head back up and tried to cover his flushed face. "If you didn't know how to cook, why would you claim to, you dork?" He asked in between stifled chuckles.

Kaito couldn't help the slight chuckles that escaped him as his own cheeks flushed a soft red. "Well, I didn't want to... seem stupid is all. You said every student knows how to make a basic bento and I didn't want to disillusion you too suddenly, you know!"

That seemed to make the laughter worse as another round of laughter was sparked from Shuichi and Kaito found himself joining in as he walked over to playfully grab the boy's hands. 

"Shut up! It's embarrassing!" Kaito whined, unable to even fake a pout as Shuichi shook his head wildly. "C'mon, sidekick! You can't keep laughing at your hero like this, I'll get insecure!"

"You are such a nerd," Shuichi managed, not bothering to tug away as he smiled up at Kaito. The soft grin made something in Kaito's chest stutter, the feeling crawling up into his throat as his stomach squirmed. "I'll teach you then, so you can learn how to make your own bentos, finally."

Kaito hummed, trying to ignore how happy the idea of Shuichi teaching him made him. "You sure? I think I'd like it better if you cooked all of my bentos for me from now on."

Shuichi huffed but his smile didn't falter in the slightest. "And let you skip out on cooking duty? Or be lazy and keep living your life without learning to cook basic food? I'm sorry but as your sidekick I can't allow it."

Kaito sighed playfully, finally releasing Shuichi's wiggling fingers in order to sling his jacket off his shoulder and shake his arm out of it. "Well, if you're going to insist I guess I can't deny you, now can I? My sidekick knows best, after all!" He tilted his head, blinking at Shuichi to show how content he was and watching as Shuichi shook his head again. With a light nudge of his elbow, Shuichi spurred Kaito onward.

"Don't say that, it's not even remotely true. I just think you need to learn some basic life skills before we escape."

Kaito shrugged, but didn't press further, instead tossing his handmade coat into the corner where Shuichi's jacket lay before beginning to tug off his unbuttoned dress shirt as well. 

"How about we get started then! You can show me how to start rice and I can follow your lead!"

Shuichi hummed. "That implies that you'll also need to be shown how to cut vegetables and cook meat."

Kaito hesitated before tossing his dress shirt into the corner and tugging at the straps of his white and red wife-beater, grinning lopsidedly. "Well, better to learn from the best than to try it myself in case I mess up, right?"

Shuichi raised an eyebrow. "You don't know how to cut vegetables?"

"I do, I'm just not good at it," Kaito admitted, slipping closer to the detective to nudge their arms against each other, Shuichi's boney shoulders digging the slightest bit into his upper arm as the boy flushed a bit darker.

Shuichi's eyes lingered on Kaito's now bare arms for a moment before meeting the astronaut's gaze finally as he smiled gently. "Well, guess I don't mind teaching you that as well, then."

Without another word, Shuichi slipped around the middle island and scooped up the heavy bag of rice, the heft clearly winding the poor detective the slightest bit. Kaito followed the other diligently over to the stove, watching as he dumped the bag off onto the counter beside the cooktop before he reached up on his toes to snag two of the medium-sized saucepans hanging from the hanging rack above the stove. 

Shuichi set the saucepans carefully upon the stovetop burners, turning to Kaito with a slight smile. "Now, Kaito, what do you think the next step is?" 

Kaito tensed up, so focused on watching Shuichi he wasn't quite sure what to do next as his eyes darted from the saucepans to the bag of rice and back to Shuichi again. "Oh! That's easy we just... put the rice inside the saucepan, right?"

Shuichi seemed to be struggling to hold back another laugh. With a shake of his head, he picked up one of the saucepans. "Follow what I do from now on," He explained gently and Kaito instantly scrambled to pick up the other saucepan. 

Shuichi's smile grew at the eagerness, and he slipped around Kaito to head for the sink in the corner of the room. Kaito followed after him carefully, watching as Shuichi tucked the saucepan under the faucet head of the sink before flicking one of the dials and filling the pan up halfway with water. Before Kaito could open his mouth he was ensnared in Shuichi's voice once more. "We are going to need at least two cups of water for every cup of rice, and this is about 4 cups of water. We need the water to soak into the rice and cook it and we'll be making a few batches."

"Ah," Kaito said, mind thumbing over the numbers given to him in attempts to calculate how many batches of rice they'd be making. Shuichi seemed to realize this and chuckled slightly. 

"Don't worry too much about the math, we can use the leftover rice we make for dinner if we really need to, Kaito." He assured and Kaito nodded, stepping forward to tuck his saucepan under the running faucet once Shuichi pulled away. 

Once Kaito's saucepan had enough water he turned off the faucet, trudging after Shuichi back to the shove and wobbling as he fretted over the water in his pot threatening to spill with each step. They made it back to the stove without much incident and they both carefully set the pans back upon the stove. Kaito kept a careful eye on Shuichi as he opened the rice bag and poured it into his saucepan, following suit and attempting to get the same amount of rice as him by eyeballing it (though he wasn't quite sure what a cup of rice looked like, much less two cups). 

"See? And now we wait for the water to boil and afterwards bring it back to a simmer. Then we can leave it to soak and cook, and while it does that we can cut up the vegetables." Shuichi explained, turning knobs on the stove as he did so. Kaito nodded as he watched, looking at the tick markers around the knobs and trying to memorize their placements for cooking rice.

"Yeah, yeah that makes sense," Kaito murmured, eyes turning back to Shuichi's face to find him staring. Kaito smiled. "Thanks for explaining it to me, it makes a lot more sense when you do it!"

Shuichi tensed, his pink cheeks turning a soft red now as he stammered. "Its really nothing, Kaito, its just rice!" He managed, running his hands through his hair as Kaito snorted and slid closer to the boy, briefly noticing his hunching shoulders. 

"You always say it's nothing, but you really do a lot for me, don't you," Kaito hummed, feeling himself hesitate for a moment before reaching out to slide his hand up Shuichi's back and resting between his shoulder blades. "Have more confidence in yourself, or I'll make you do more pushups than Maki at practice tonight."

Shuichi huffed, but he was smiling none the less as one of his hands shakily came up to rest on Kaito's shoulder. It sent a jolt through the purple-haired boy, and the sudden squirming in his stomach was only exemplified by the shy eyes that met his own as Shuichi looked back up at him.

"And I'll hold you accountable if you start slacking off again. I know how easily you get distracted when Maki starts showing off." He said it almost coyly, and Kaito had a hard time swallowing down his beating heart that throbbed in his throat. 

"C'mon, you know I don't mean to slack off, but your guyses training is more important than mine, you know!" Kaito said with a weak laugh, and Shuichi merely hummed, squeezing his shoulder as he pulled back slowly. Kaito felt almost disappointed at the action, though he wasn't quite sure why. 

He felt so odd around Shuichi sometimes, like a puzzle he couldn't understand lying underneath his skin. Kaito was so sure this morning he was just hungry and proud but sometimes it felt like more than that, but he couldn't place his finger on it.

"Well, you're slacking right now, Kaito." Shuichi said teasingly, eyes darting towards his saucepan. "You forgot to turn on your burner."

* * *

Hours later, a mix of choppily chopped vegetables, slightly overcooked or undercooked rice, and maybe a bit burned meat slathered in sauce sat in front of the two boys ready to be packaged and presented for lunch. And in all honestly, the odd feelings for Kaito had only gotten worse.

Shuichi seemed not to realize, acting as normal as usual. But the way he would casually touch Kaito would send the astronaut's heart into a frenzy; the way he guided him into learning how to cut each vegetable, how to scoop up rice, or how to tell when meat is cooked would distract him so badly Kaito would end up spilling, dropping or slicing something he wasn't supposed to; and the encouraging words were the worst of all, with Shuichi's calm voice every compliment and praise sent tingles down Kaito's spine. 

It was overwhelming in a way Kaito wasn't sure if was amazing or awful, and the more it happened the more confused he became. Kaito Momota wasn't an idiot; he knew three languages fluently and aced his exams to become an astronaut at the age of 17. But somehow he couldn't figure out why spending so much time with Shuichi was sending him spiraling.

"We really should have asked what everyone's preferences were before we started cooking," Shuichi mumbled, breaking Kaito out of his worried fretting as he gazed over the spread of food before them. "I'm sure some will be rather picky, like Himiko or Kokichi. Are we sure we should give K1-B0 a bento? He can't eat after all... ah, but if we didn't give him a portion he would get disappointed, wouldn't he?"

"Aw, c'mon man don't worry about it!" Kaito hurried to say, slapping Shuichi lightly on the back and making the detective jump slightly in surprise. He grinned. "We'll just split the portions up evenly between 12 people, including K1-B0 so he doesn't get upset! Knowing you, you'll be observant enough to realize who liked and didn't like what so we know what to do for dinner, yeah?"

The encouragement seemed to be enough for Shuichi, who smiled gratefully and leaned slightly against the astronaut. "Yes, of course. Thank you, Kaito, you're right."

"Of course I am! I'm Kaito!" Kaito blurted without thought, much too distracted by the warmth of Shuichi against him and his bare arms to properly respond otherwise. "You said 1/2 a cup of rice is a serving, right? So lets start there and then we can figure out how to split up the vegetables and meat!"

Shuichi nodded and instantly reached for one of the rice paddles, scooping up a hefty chunk of the rice in the saucepans on the counter and tapping it into one of the bento boxes he grabbed from the pile beside the food. Kaito hurried to follow suit, scooping up some rice and a bento box but tapping the rice into the box much more roughly in hopes to catch up to the other. Their arms continued to brush against each other as they scooped up rice and folded it neatly into the bentos or tried to pat it in as fast as possible. Despite his horrible technique Shuichi didn't bother to correct Kaito, however, instead just calmly continuing to tuck rice inside each bento he grabbed. 

"This is nice," Kaito blurted, feeling nervous for no real reason. He heard Shuichi hum, a sign to continue even as Kaito did his best to avoid directly looking at the other. He had caught himself staring far too many times to risk Shuichi catching him as well at that point. "Y'know," He fumbled, looking for a way to continue the conversation without making it too awkward. "Just hanging out with you, being all uh, domestic I think is the word. We should do it more often."

Shuichi suddenly fumbled with his rice paddle, tucking the rice into the bento he held in a much more Kaito fashion than normal. It spurred Kaito on for some reason as he frantically looked back to his own work and rice paddle even as he could feel Shuichi shift to stare at him, the burn of his eyes on the skin of his cheek. 

"It's just nice to be able to forget about everything else, and it feels like everything is actually normal when I'm here with you like this," Kaito explained, scraping the side of his paddle against the side of the bento box as he swallowed thickly, the noise audible in the eery silence of the kitchen. "I just wish we could be normal more often."

"Normal?" Shuichi questioned, voice sounding a bit throaty. It caused Kaito to finally look up, staring at Shuichi and feeling his breath catch sharply at the wide eyes and pink cheeks looking back at him.

"Normal." Kaito confirmed, his own voice sounding a bit croaky now.

The silence became palpable once more, and slowly, almost cautiously, Shuichi set down the paddle he held, setting it on top of the roughly made bento he had started before carefully turning on his heels to face Kaito head-on. Kaito, remembering Shuichi's instruction to follow his every move, found himself dropping the paddle without much grace and resting his hip against the island counter, facing the smaller male in turn. 

"Normal," Shuichi murmured, sounding less questioning but more contemplating this time as he stepped the slightest bit closer to Kaito. Kaito could feel his heart spasming in his chest as he tilted his head down further in order to keep his eyes locked with the detective's own.

"Yep." Kaito croaked fully now, hand reaching out to splay across the countertop in an effort to ground himself. The determined gaze of Shuichi's eyes made him suddenly dizzy, suddenly nervous, and the boy was only edging closer to him, making it harder for the astronaut to breathe.

Slowly, as if giving Kaito an out to back away, Shuichi's hands came up to gently rest on the taller male's chest, nimble fingers and warmth radiating through the thin fabric of Kaito's wife-beater. Kaito swallowed, the lump in his throat feeling almost suffocating as Shuichi's eyes darted from his own hands resting on the purple-haired man's pectorals to his eyes. Still as slow as ever, the smaller boy stepped forward the final inch, legs brushing against Kaito's own. His hands slid upwards, from his chest to the tops of his shoulders, thumbs skimming the surface of Kaito's collarbones. 

It was frightening, but Kaito didn't want to run away, scared to run in case he ruined whatever tense moment was passing between the two of them. With Kaito silent, Shuichi's determination turned to steel, his hands sliding further until they were hooked together, fingers laced and pressed against the back of Kaito's neck. The astronaut's grip on the countertop grew frantic and tight as he was suddenly yanked down, warm hands now sliding across his cheeks and a pair of soft lips meeting his own dumbfounded and slack ones. 

Kaito was frozen, staring at the peaceful calm of Shuichi's closed eyes and furrowed eyebrows, his chest taught as the gentle lips began to move. Before he knew it his own hands were on Shuichi's hips, gripping tight with shaky fingers. The blue-haired boy hummed, pressing more deeply into the kiss, their legs and chests leaning together as finally, finally, Kaito's eyes fell shut.

It was exactly what he wanted without having the words to express it, and Shuichi's lips were coaxing even as they were gentle. Without even realizing it, Kaito was directed by Shuichi's determination, lower back pinned to the island counter as the other boy's hands moved again to slide into his gelled hair, mussing up the strands. Kaito's hands moved, wandering Shuichi's sides before they landed on his back. Eagerly, he tugged the detective forward, relishing in the muffled grunt of surprise against his lips, Kaito only separating to start a new kiss with a groan. Shuichi gripped tighter at the purple locks in his grasp, pushing at them in hopes to drag Kaito closer as he shifted one leg to hook against the astronaut's thigh. 

Warm, pleasurable, safe, Kaito felt a mix of all three as he continued to kiss Shuichi, so enveloped and distracted he hardly heard the kitchen door open or noticed the presence of someone entering until he heard a squeal and Shuichi ripped himself away from Kaito's grip. 

The two of them spun towards the door, both looking rather ruffled and a bit debauched as Kokichi, who stood with an open door behind him, grinned mischievously. Kaito could feel dread swell and swirl in the pit of his stomach as Kokichi took a deep breath, and the astronaut could feel Shuichi tensing up beside him when the dictator cupped two hands over the sides of his mouth. 

"EW! You two are so gross! Making out in here when we're all waiting for lunch! I expected better of you two than to ruin the honor of Kirumi like this, other people are gonna cook in here you know!" 

At his shouting, the screech of chairs and mumbling voices grew outside the door, and Kokichi's smug smirk grew as his hands fell. 

Kaito could feel his face burn red, stammerings of nonsensical words pouring out of his mouth as he scrambled to try and figure out an excuse. Was that what he was doing? He was essentially making out with Shuichi in the communal kitchen? Oh god, what the fuck. Why was he making out with Shuichi in the kitchen where anyone could find them?

"Kokichi! Shut up!" Shuichi hissed, picking up a rice paddle and flinging it in Kokichi's direction. It barely missed, smacking the door with a wet click and then went clattering to the floor as Kokichi giggled and squealed. 

"Oh, Shu-shu, you dirty boy! I expected so much better from someone so upstanding and eloquent as the Ultimate Detective! It was your idea wasn't it? That's why you have Kaito all pinned up against the counter, huh?" With that, even more muttering came from the dining hall, so loud that Kaito could hear Miu gasping as she bemoaned her losing a bet on who was the top and Korekiyo declaring she pay up much to Kaito's shame.

"Kokichi!" Shuichi yelped, his face beet red as he scrambled to the door. Before he could reach it, Kokichi let out another cackle and yanked the door shut with a thwack!

"No, no, don't mind the interruption, feel free to continue what you two started!" Kokichi shouted through the door, his laughter still plain to hear even as it was muffled by the oak. "We'll be waiting for lunch!"

Shuichi, stopped halfway from the island counter Kaito was still leaning up against and the now shut door, slowly turned to face the taller male, swallowing slightly. His face was still a very deep crimson, and Kaito didn't imagine he was in a much better state than him looks-wise, in fact, he could feel some of his gelled hair drooping down the back of his neck the longer they stood there staring at one another.

Kaito cleared his throat awkwardly as Shuichi raised an eyebrow at him, a wobbly grin making its way onto his face as he reached back to grip at the counter behind him with quivering arms in an attempt to seem more relaxed than he felt. "Well uh... you're a good kisser, if... that helps?"

Shuichi scooped up the fallen rice paddle and chucked it at him.

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to leave a kudos or comment! I haven't had the inspiration to write with my constant schoolwork so to finally write a quick one off in just a few days was a huge relief let me tell you that. 
> 
> I'm gonna be writing more for the Saiki K fic now so byeeee


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